Cheeseburger Sausage

We're taking an American classic, the cheeseburger, and turning it into a smoked sausage! All the deliciousness of a cheeseburger without the mess (come on, you know it sucks when everything squeezes out of the back of the bun).
We're making a 3lb batch, with an 80/20 blend (yes, we know that 1/2 of fat isn't 20%, but when it mixes with the fat marbled through the lean, it becomes and 80/20 mix).
For a 3lb batch:
Kosher salt - 20g (we normally us 2% of the weight of our meat, but we cut back to 1.5% to account for the salt in the cheese)
Black Pepper - 6g
Garlic Powder - 10g
Mustard, Ground - 8g
Onions, Dehydrated - 15g
Cheese, High Temp (preferrably) - 10oz
Pickles - 8 oz
Water - 1/2 cup (you could substitute your favorite beer, for more flavor)
Smoke with indirect heat (200F or less) for about 3 hours to 155F, internal.
Move to an ice bath immediately after pulling from the smoker to stop the cooking process!
Dipping sauce:
2 TBSP Mayo
1 TBSP Ketchup
1 TBSP Mustard
1 TBSP Pickle Relish
Salt/Pepper to taste

[@cydrych]

Subscribed. I’ll have to give this a shot. I have to say I’m surprised and impressed that you managed to get a good texture without a binder because of the acid from those pickles. Anytime I’ve tried a sausage with anything acidic they have been crumbly. I just made 3 sausages from some pork shoulder and put a video up of the process. Good luck on the 1K subs. ✌🏻Thanks for the recipe.

[@phoenixkitchen]

I tried this recipe once before, when I used the Kitchen Aid attachment to stuff the casings. Of course, that shredded the pickles and cheese into nothingness, rather than leaving chunks. Those had a great flavor with horrible texture. I think these worked because I let the pickles drain and simply gave them a rough chop. The sausage stuffer just pushes through the chunks, rather than grinding them a second time. Perhaps that controlled the amount of acidity being released throughout the sausage. 🤔

[@cydrych]

@@phoenixkitchen that all makes perfect sense. Since I got a dedicated stuffer the improved texture is astounding. If anyone were to ask me about making homemade sausages I’d suggest a stuffer before a grinder because you can easily find ground meat or chop it with a knife.